"I think I remember...

"Was it me? Did I kill Li Xing? Li Xing is gone... but who is that standing at the door?"

The look in "Gao Xi’s" eyes went from calm and composed to panicked and terrified, until she finally lost all reason. With a scream, she fell to her knees, scrambling and crawling away from the teetering iron door.

Gao Tian never would have imagined that a ghost could be brainwashed, let alone that a ghost could be afraid of another ghost.

It seemed "Gao Xi" had gotten too deep into her role, truly believing herself to be human. She had been completely influenced by the rules of the Memory Ghost that Gao Tian had grasped.

But even though he’d influenced his "sister," it was far from enough. He had to remember he was in a family of four, with the Memory Ghost playing three roles. The "mother" and "father" had yet to be won over.

The "father" suddenly grew agitated. He stood up, strode over to Gao Tian, and pointed at the iron door, bellowing furiously:

"Gao Tian, you’re getting more and more out of line! It’s understandable that you and Li Xing had a fight—that’s how young people are. But why would you make up all this nonsense to curse her to death? And why would you scare your sister into this state?

"You have that intermittent memory... whatever disease. Do you have any idea how much your sister has shouldered for you all these years? Is this how you repay our family?"

Meanwhile, the "mother" rushed to the "sister’s" side. She hugged her, soothing her with soft words while trying to reimplant the memory that Li Xing was not dead, attempting to regain control of the situation.

Watching these two ghosts play good cop, bad cop, Gao Tian knew he couldn’t just give up the small advantage he had painstakingly gained. Faced with his "father’s" harsh accusations, he sneered and pointed at the increasing number of handprints and cracks on the iron door:

"Open your eyes and take a good look. Is that the same Li Xing who was too weak to hurt a fly, the one who was scared of a hamster?

"She’s a girl who was afraid to even step on the grass by the roadside, and now she’s smashing a brick-thick security door to pieces with her bare hands. You’re telling me that’s Li Xing? Not even a grown man could do that.

"Dad, Mom, I know you both really liked Li Xing. After she passed away last summer, you lamented that you’d never find such a good daughter-in-law again. You’d be out grocery shopping, lost in a daze, and mistake the backs of passing girls for Li Xing.

"But facts are facts. You have to accept them whether you want to or not. Li Xing is gone forever and she’s never coming back. As for what that thing pounding on the iron door is... you should know better than I do.

"Dad, Mom, how long are you going to keep lying to yourselves!

"If you keep this up and open the door to let that thing in, it won’t just be you and me—Gao Xi will die here today too!"

After Gao Tian’s impromptu speech, coupled with the inhuman roars coming from the thing knocking at the door, expressions of helpless confusion appeared on the faces of the "father" and "mother" for the first time.

Their memories were also beginning to be affected by the Memory Ghost.

"Honey, Tian is right. The one at the door... can’t possibly be Li Xing.

"I’ve met the girl. She was so gentle and quiet, she even needed Tian’s help to open a soda bottle."

The confusion in the "father’s" eyes was even greater:

"But when exactly did Li Xing die? What day did we attend her funeral?

"Why can’t I recall a single shred of it, no matter how hard I try?"

Seeing the main door about to give way, the "mother" forcefully pulled the "father" to his feet, not bothering to explain:

"Let’s get the two kids and run! What are you doing standing here thinking about this now?!"

And so, the memories of the three members of this "family of four" were, in turn, affected by the Memory Ghost itself.

It seems getting too deep into character isn’t always a good thing.

Now that they had decided to escape, the "mother" frantically led the way, guiding Gao Tian and the others through the hallway and into the study. This room had a small balcony, and using the outdoor air conditioning unit’s support frame as a foothold, getting from the fourth floor to the third wouldn’t be difficult.

After entering the study, the "mother," to be safe, didn’t forget to lock the room’s door behind them. If the "Li Xing" outside broke down the main iron door and rushed into the living room, they would still have this relatively flimsy door as a barrier.

The family of four gathered in the study, now facing a new problem. To get down the wall from the balcony, they would need something like a rope for support.

At that moment, the only thing in the study’s cabinet that could serve this purpose was a thin blanket. And there was only one, meaning only one person could be tied to it and lowered from the balcony at a time.

In other words, in the time it would take for "Li Xing" to break down the main door and rush to the study, the first person to climb down from the balcony would be the safest. The second person would be cutting it close and would likely be caught and killed by the "Li Xing" who broke in.

As for the third and fourth people, survival was out of the question.

With a tremendous CRASH from outside the study, "Li Xing," who had been pounding on the main door for a quarter of an hour, finally broke it down. Heavy, elephantine footsteps began to approach, one by one. There was now barely enough time for two people to make it down safely.

The "mother" took the "father’s" hand and opened her mouth, about to say something.

Gao Tian could tell what she was thinking. She wanted the father to take the blanket first and swing down to the third floor.

Of course, that couldn’t be allowed to happen. The "father" was a ghost to begin with—immortal and indestructible. What did he need to run for?

But in this family of four, three were ghosts. If they reached a consensus, he would never win against the three of them. Before the "mother" could speak, Gao Tian cut in again:

"Dad, don’t you dare stay behind to cover our retreat!

"I knew you’d say that! You were the same way last year! At that car crash, several cars were on fire, and the drivers were seriously injured, unconscious, and trapped inside. The whole thing could have exploded at any moment—even the fire trucks didn’t dare get close. But you, you risked your life, smashing the windows and dragging the unconscious drivers out one by one to safety.

"And it’s you, every year, who donates over 50,000 to various charities. You never think about yourself. You’re always playing the hero, risking your own life to save others. This time, you’re going to volunteer to stay behind again to buy us time, aren’t you?

"I’m begging you, Dad. You’ve already done more than enough. You really don’t need to sacrifice yourself again!"

Hearing Gao Tian’s words, the "father’s" eyes grew distant:

"Did I... really do those things?

"I don’t seem to remember any of it."

Gao Tian didn’t give him time to react. To prevent the "mother" from being the first to escape, he immediately turned to her and said:

"You and Dad have the deepest love, I know it. If Dad stays behind to cover for us, you’ll definitely stay with him to walk this final road together. Even if you couldn’t be born on the same day, you would choose to die on the same day.

"It’s agony, having parents with a love stronger than gold. Do you have any idea how painful it would be for us kids to lose both of you at the same time?

"You don’t care about your son’s feelings at all! All you care about is each other! You only have eyes for one another!"

The "mother’s" memories were now swayed by Gao Tian. She grabbed the "father’s" hand:

"Let the children go first. I’ll stay here with you."

The "father" was still struggling to resist the interference of the Memory Ghost’s power:

"Wait, I think I remember donating money before, but when did I ever save people from a car crash...? I have no memory of that at all."

"Gao Xi" tied one end of the blanket to the corner of the balcony railing, holding the other end in her hand, ready to make her own escape.

Gao Tian shouted:

"Sis! I know you have a terminal illness and only have a month left. You’ve said so many times that you wanted to die anyway, but when faced with a life-or-death moment, I, as your big brother, will still give you this chance at life without a second thought.

"Go on down. Escape from this balcony and go enjoy the last month you have. You don’t have to remember the three of us. It’s what we should do—for us able-bodied, long-lived people to trade our lives to hold back the ghost so you can live one more month."

The moment he said this, an expression of unbearable shame appeared on "Gao Xi’s" face. She handed the other end of the blanket to Gao Tian:

"Brother, I’m not going. I’ll stay here with Mom and Dad. You go down first."

Gao Tian didn’t stand on ceremony with "Gao Xi." She was just a ghost in disguise, too. Besides, the "Li Xing" from the living room had already reached the study door and smashed half of it to pieces with a single punch.

A huge, gaping hole appeared where the wooden panel had broken off, and a furry, red, blood-drenched arm reached through. Outside the study stood a disproportionate black silhouette, its features indistinct.

The "mother" was now completely in character. She used her own body to block the hole in the door and, with her back to the two children on the balcony, yelled:

"Go!

"Don’t worry about me and your dad! Just go!"

Gao Tian wrapped one end of the blanket around his wrist, swung himself over the edge of the balcony, and planted his feet on the frame of the outdoor AC unit.

He heard the sounds of the study above being breached. The "father" let out a grunt, then fell silent. The "mother" resisted a little longer. "Gao Xi" stood to the side, screaming and screaming and screaming, as if she had seen something that should not exist.

Gao Tian knew that the next step was the most crucial.

His feet left the support of the AC unit’s frame. Using the blanket to support his weight, he began to lower himself, down and down, trying to reach the protruding windowsill on the third floor.

If he could just get a foothold on that windowsill, he could escape the Hell of the fourth floor, get to the third, and buy himself a moment’s respite.

Just then, Gao Tian felt a pair of eyes from the balcony watching him. He looked up—